Improvement in igniting-fuses for shells



To @Zlio/ont it inlay concerner"J tion 4of Fuses'in,Ordnance-Shells; and I-do withrifledordinance,'as the gases are in mostv s'cribepits construction and operation.

. gun-paper, or'fany other fornr of pyroxylinc,

UNITED "STATES" PATEiSr-r ,OErrcE.

eEAELEs W. sMrrE, 0E EVANs NEW YORK.

'IMPRQVEMENTWIN leNlTiNG-FUSES FOR sHELLs. i

Specification forming part oi'Letters Patent l. No. V43,801, dated August 9., 1564 antedated'.

- Febrqary 1, i864. Y

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. SMITH; of the tow-n of Evans, in the county of Erie and State of N ew York, haveinvented a new Fusev Lighter for Rendering more Certain the Ignihereby declare-that the following is a fullv description thereof, reference being had-to' the' accompanying drawings, making part of this sp'e'ciiication. l v My invention consists ina separatelpri'mer to be attached tothe ordinary timeefnse .of 'an 'explosive rdnanceshell, to secure thembre certain ignition'4 of suchfuses than Swhen iiredA in the ordinary manner. f

My invention is more particularly applica-` ble to that class of projectiles intended for use of theseprevented, by the lclosing of the windage, from passi-ng around the shell in sufficient amount to ignite'the fuse with certainty. By the useofa' primer, however, `formed of some substanceiguiting at alower .temperature than iluse 'composition .or common -gnnpowder the inse will bel ignited much more readily,v and there are peculiar advantages arising from the use of'an igniter made separate and' distinct from't the fuseitself, as will .behereinafter enumera-ted. v i To enable others -skilled in the art to make and use my inventioml will proceed to de These primers may be made of gun;cotton,.

or percussionpowder or other suitable fulminate cemented upon a. 'Wafer .of 'dry collodion; but the mode of construction 'I prefer is asfol# lows: I take a thin Wafer vofcollodion half an inch in-diamet'er and cement upon it with collodion in the fluid state-a wisp O f guncotton prepa-red Witha strong nitric acid,'so as to ignite. at a loxv` temperature. This `form of primer is shown in Figure 1, and at Fig. 2' may be seen one formed by cementing fulminating-powder: upon a Wafer in asimilar manner. These primers :may be pressed in the endfof the fuse-plng after tlie fuse'has been 5 4cut off the proper length'and'inserted, and lheld by the friction against the sides of the vthe fuse has some'seriou's difticulties.

plug; but I prefer to' attach them by means of illustrate this mode of attachment. .The prim-v ers may be carried infa small box in the pocket and` be' attachedto the fuse just previous tov theinsertion/of the shell in the gun.'

. 1I am aware that 't has been common tofir a' priming of powder permanently to the-end of a fuse by means'of an adhesive substance at the time of manufacture, vand that pieces ,of' Iquickmatch have been also thus attached; but

a priming thusv made and forming a 'part' ot" Aren: leri'sts frequently wish to'alterthe-rate ofburning of a fuse after it'isdriven in the shell, and

`they vare accustomed to dothis-by gouging or hollowing out the endof the'fuse itself. When the priming is permanently attached,' it will by 'this opera-tion lbe necessarily removed, While my-primeris open to no'suchobjection. Again, my primers `may bev made of .a material that will ignite at a much lowertempera "ture than would be safe werelthey permanently attached. They may also `be so 4made as to spread outside the end of the.fuse-plug,"

and. thus be more certainly ignited', care lbeing taken to use a concave rammer-head to avoid'their-taking lire lby'its percussion. It

is evident that these primers may be made inv Va variety of-formsv and of various'materials.

I donot limit myself to the form or to the precise modeof attachment shown' and described.

Neither do I Wish, 'on the other hand, tov be understood'a-s claiming any primer, match,'or apparatus which is -permanentlyattached.

' -Having now-fu1ly described my invention, what I claim as new therein, `and :desire to se-. cure by Letters Patent, is-

' Aportable fuse-primeradapted to be transported separately and to be attached at the,

end of a time-fuse j ust previous to the insertion-of the shell in the gun, for the `purpose of igniting the fuse at the 'moment of discharge.` CHAS. XV. SMITH. Vitnesses: Y

G. H. BABcocK, HENRY B. RYDER. 

